Motherhood is a tall order for Meg Ryan as son Jack towers over her

She might have given up on love but Meg Ryan has a very special man in her life - her extremely tall 16-year-old son Jack Henry.

The teenager - whose father is Ryan’s former husband actor Dennis Quaid- dwarfed his famous mother as the pair went on a shopping trip in Los Angeles.

Ryan recently admitted that she found it impossible to maintain a romantic life with the constant demands of her work.

Little and large: Meg Ryan enjoys some quality time with her extremely tall teenage son Jack Henry

Little and large: Meg Ryan enjoys some quality time with her extremely tall teenage son Jack Henry

'It's very difficult to be a career person and have a relationship. I didn't succeed at doing it at all. It's incredibly hard,' she told Hello Magazine.

But the 45-year-old - who also has a daughter, Daisy, who she adopted from China in 2006 - says she is more than happy with her single mother status.

‘Being a single mother is just a fact right now and adoption is just the way I met my daughter.

Mother and son outing: Jack Henry is Meg's son with former husband Dennis Quaid, she also has a two-year-old daughter

Mother and son outing: Jack Henry is Meg's son with former husband Dennis Quaid, she also has a two-year-old daughter

‘We have a different story than: 'I went to the hospital...' But it's just as mysterious and enormous.

’I never had a set of rules about the way things were supposed to be.

‘I've learned that every time you think you have something figured out you probably don't,’ she said.

Jack's father Dennis Quaid with his new wife Kimberley and twins Thomas and Zoe

Jack's father Dennis Quaid with his new wife Kimberley and twins Thomas and Zoe

Ryan's ex Quaid suffered a terrifying ordeal last year when his newborn twins were inadvertently given doses of a blood-thinning drug that were 1,000 times stronger than the prescribed amount.

Although premature-born twins Thomas and Zoe recovered from the hospital blunder, Quaid and his new wife Kimberley took legal action to prevent other families suffering the same nightmare and the Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre was fined $25,000 (£16,000) by Los Angeles state health regulators.

The proud dad showed off pictures of the twins on his mobile phone on several US chatshows earlier this year and spoke of his huge relief that the battling pair had made a remarkable recovery.